Killer Alan Levey has been jailed for life for stabbing Damian Whyte in a murder of the “utmost brutality” simply because he decided he wanted to kill somebody

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Killer Alan Levey has been jailed for life for stabbing a popular man in a murder of the “utmost brutality” simply because he decided he wanted to kill somebody.

Levey joked about killing a local Big Issue seller but when he could not find the man he was after he befriended vulnerable 33-year-old Damian Whyte and then killed him in a frenzied attack on View Island, Caversham, stabbing him 28 times in the chest, shoulders, back and arms shortly before midnight on Tuesday, February 22.

He told a friend he only stopped stabbing him because his victim was pleading for his mother.

The 35-year-old from Southampton Street, Katesgrove, was sentenced to life in jail with a minimum term of 24 years by Judge Zoe Smith at Reading Crown Court yesterday – the day after he had a shock change of heart and admitted murdering Mr Whyte as his trial was set to begin.

Following the verdict friends have paid tribute to Mr Whyte, known locally as “Tottenham Paul”, saying he was a “good geezer with a heart of gold” and his family have praised the police for the way they handled the case.

Lifelong Tottenham Hotspur fan Mr Whyte, 33, had lived a troubled life on the streets in Reading but was well-liked around town and earned the nickname James Bond because of his stylish appearance. Friends say in the weeks before his death he had given up drinking, was getting his life back on track and had gone back to live with his parents in Chalgrove, Oxfordshire.

On the night of his death, he was dropped off in Reading town centre by his parents because he was due to stay with friends in the area.

CCTV footage revealed he was with Levey in Chain Street at around 11.30pm on February 22.

They walked around the town centre together, with Mr Whyte helping Levey by wheeling his luggage for him.

They were tracked on CCTV as far as Merchants Place. Then, 45 minutes later, Levey, 36, was seen to return to the town centre alone.

Ian Acheson, prosecuting, said when out of sight of the security cameras the pair had walked on to View Island. There, Levey killed Mr Whyte before returning to Hamble Court, the hostel in Southampton Street where he lived.

Mr Acheson added: “That evening, he had decided to kill someone – it seems it mattered not who that person was – to see what might happen, whether he might get away with it.”

Mr Acheson read a statement from Levey’s housemate Jamie Belshaw, who said Levey, a Chelsea FC fan, told him he had stabbed someone. He said it was “Cockney Paul” adding “the Yid Army and all that” – a reference to Tottenham Hotspur.

He then said: “I only stopped stabbing him because he was crying for his mummy... ‘I want my mummy’. I killed him.”

Mr Belshaw told police Levey went on: “He was f****** dead. He was bleeding out of his eyes, his ears, his nose and everything.”

Mr Belshaw did not believe Levey at the time. Later, Levey went to his girlfriend’s house and told her he had stabbed someone, the court heard.

Mr Acheson spoke about a conversation Levey had with another person who would have been called as a witness in which he discussed who he would like to see dead, naming “Alan Matey”, who sells the Big Issue magazine near Reading Central Library, as his preferred victim.

Levey’s journey around the town centre that night was consistent with his looking for Alan Matey before his “fateful meeting with the deceased”.

On the night of the murder, Levey had shown two knives to a friend.

He turned himself in to police at 2.35am on Thursday, February 24, saying he wanted to confess to the “Caversham Island murder”. He took officers to the spot by the River Kennet where he had dumped his bloodstained clothes.

Levey admitted the unlawful killing of Mr Whyte. His lawyer, Timothy Raggatt, had prepared for a trial based on exploring diagnosed personality disorders which could have proven he had diminished responsibility for his actions, but Levey’s change of heart dispensed the need for a trial.

Sentencing Levey, Judge Smith said: “On the 22nd of February you left your hostel and you had, it seems, already determined to kill someone. It was 11.29pm that you and Mr Whyte met and the two of you proceeded to walk to View Island.

“It must have been soon after that that you set about Mr Whyte in a savage attack. You described a killing of the utmost brutality.”

Levey, in a grey bomber jacket and white shirt, remained expressionless as Judge Smith sentenced him to a minimum of 24 years in jail.